Jordi Vilella: The euphoria goes inside

"A cortado, please, and a sparkling water to go with it." It's not his first coffee of the day, and it certainly won't be his last. Jordi Vilella enjoys the cadence of Buddy Guy's Early in the morning and a smile appears on his face, a sign that he feels comfortable enveloped by the morning atmosphere of the Bar. Without signs of euphoria, though, "because I relativize everything," he explains, leaning against the bar.

"I have always felt attracted to diverse forms of artistic expression: music, cinema, photography and, above all, painting," confesses the man who admits that his entire life, with its stages, its memories, its phases, its moments, is connected to films, songs and books. And to drawings, of course.

Like so many other children, little Jordi drew all the time. Only he was very good at it. "In EGB, I was lucky enough to have a drawing teacher, Javier Puértolas, who was an established painter and who believed in me a lot," narrates the artist, who, in addition to the support of the teacher, whom he mentions with great affection, also had that of his mother. "At 13, she enrolled me in the Botticelli academy, now defunct, and there I really learned."

Those formative years had an incalculable value in what would be the artistic development of the parishioner. "As in any discipline, one needs a solid foundation, something I acquired in that period of classical academy." A foundation that is evident in Blues explosion (Confluencias), the volume that has just seen the light with interviews and inspired texts by fellow parishioner David Moreu and a corpus of 61 illustrations by Jordi, who adds color, texture, face and background to conversations with figures of the stature of BB King, Robert Crumb, Irma Thomas, Dr. John or Taj Mahal. A volume that exudes affection and good work on each of its 280 pages.

"It was frantic, because I had to deliver the drawings against the clock, so now I'm taking it easy and thinking about my next project." In this decision-making there is an interdependence between content and form: "When I am clear about what I want to portray, I will know the technique I want to use. At the same time, thinking about the technique I want to use will help me define the theme I want to address." He reflects for a few seconds. "The truth is that I'm thinking about a series of emblematic soul characters like Otis Redding or Marvin Gaye, but well, it can turn at any moment," he adds enigmatically.

A matter of craft

Despite his training at Botticelli and his evident hand for art, Jordi studied graphic design, "when I didn't even know very well what it was and, back then, it was a very alien thing that not too many people studied." After working in several studios, he landed at Ogilvy at 30 years old, "and that was a huge change for me."

At that moment, a career began that has led him to be a recognized and awarded creative director. A job that, however, he has lived with his usual restraint. "For me, it is above all a craft; I have never experienced it from its most, let's say, glamorous side." Although the frantic pace of handling the creativity of large accounts did mean that, for a long time, he had his artistic facet sidelined, to which he returned during a vital impasse where a job change coincided with his divorce.

"I did several exhibitions, focusing on urban elements of Barcelona or on portraits, such as those of several authors, like Murakami or Auster, which I recently did and exhibited in several galleries." Like everyone, the pandemic crossed his path, "just when I had taken the step to work as a freelance after so many years in agencies."

After the bad patch, an even more bitter one arrived: "I was diagnosed with cancer." The fight became fierce to get ahead as a professional, as a father, as an artist. This last activity, unlike working in advertising, he experiences in a different way. With that euphoria that may not show on his face, but surfaces in every stroke of his work.

City of unusual corners

In love with Barcelona and a declared urbanite, the local never tires of walking through an Eixample "from which I love to portray unusual and unknown corners." Photos or sketches that capture altarpieces of a city still capable of surprising him "for its unique mix of people, buildings, and neighborhood feel." A sum of worlds at street level whose peak he finds on the terraces, where he enjoys sitting, disconnecting, letting himself be imbued by an unrepeatable urban atmosphere "whose identity we should fight to preserve and not let it be lost."

He finishes his cortado, clears his throat, and continues. "Besides the loss of identity, I'm also concerned about civility, because look, every now and then, I ride a scooter, but beware, I am very scrupulous about its use and it bothers me when people ride bikes or scooters without any control."

--- What will make you lose control is so much coffee without having eaten anything. Don't you want to have some breakfast?

Jordi Vilella cannot suppress a laugh.

--- I am a man of habit, so come on, a small tuna sandwich, which is usually my usual breakfast ---he replies, letting himself be carried away by the cheerful rhythm of Buddy Guy's I dig your wig.